This is what Carl Ivar Holmen from Hovet, General Manager of Norhybrid AS, tells us.
The company is one of the younger ones in Porsgrunn and Bumble during the day, but also one of the most interesting. Just in the last few years Norhybrid has been around, the general manager says, it has grown a lot.
As of today, we have seven employees, but we plan to hire more. Holmen explains that the fact that we now have to get more people involved in the project reflects that there is a lot of interest in what we’re doing.
domestic small power plants
Norhybrid started in 2020, a company based on providing environmentally friendly energy solutions. The main focus is on wind energy, for which the company has developed its own wind turbines. Roman Stoeber from Skjelsvik is the company’s technical director, and explains that there are many different advantages to the wind turbines they have developed.
– Among other things, these are relatively small wind turbines. The turbine itself is only 3.5 meters high, and can be mounted on poles no higher than the lighting poles along the road. Stoeber explains that the size also means the turbines can stand close together, so they don’t take up much space.
Plus, the design means they catch wind from all directions, don’t make noise and are almost invisible in landscapes, he adds.
Norhybrid has not only developed its own wind turbine that will produce power, but is also focusing on solar energy. There are several reasons for this, but one thing in particular is helpful if you combine these two things.
Trond Sørensen from Tønsberg, with an education background from Kjølnes, is the company’s marketing director and explains what this feature is.
– Our wind turbines are a great complement to solar energy because of the way these two energy sources behave. There is a lot of sunshine throughout the year in the summer, but less in the winter. The opposite is true for winds, Sorensen says, with more in months with less sun, and continues:
– The combination of these two energy sources in the domestic small power plants creates a great balance of energy production. Each turbine provides a total output of approximately 3.7 kilowatts. This means that you would need, say, three turbines for an average agricultural project, in good wind conditions. In this context, we are talking about an average wind speed of 5 m/s or more.
So far, Norhybrid has mostly worked on developing its product, while at the same time building a network of potential buyers. The response and interest in the turbine has been impressive in Norway and abroad, according to Carl Martin Holmen.
– The plan is primarily to introduce this to the agricultural industry and light industry. However, we have received a good response from countries such as Germany, Great Britain and the USA, where the possibility of installation in private homes is also being considered, explains the general manager.
Green energy is very much in the air these days. New solutions for how to use renewable energy sources are among Norhybrid’s raison d’être.
– I think it’s very exciting with new energy, and with the situation we’re in globally today, it’s also important that we have new solutions. Here we like to say that if there is wind, there is hope, says Marketing Director Trond Sorensen.
Norhybrid’s plan is currently to hire several heads for the project and for it to be fully operational from early next year. It is clear that the general manager of the company has come a long way since its inception.
– The plan going forward is to appoint more heads for the project and enter into full operation from early next year. We’ve really come a long way since we started a few years ago, and we’re also entering an exciting time, concludes Karl-Ivar Holmen.
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